The Plate (No. 149)

The full heading of this 1758 etching by Giuseppe Vasi makes reference also to the nunnery of S. Caterina; so the plate covers two nunneries, both belonging to the Dominican order. They were located in Monte Magnanapoli, the
southern part of the Quirinal Hill which overlooked the former Forum of Trajan; the origin of Magnanapoli which literally means GreatNaples is uncertain: there are three different explanations for it:
a) the Trajan's markets at the foot of the hill were thought to have housed baths built by Pope Paul I in the VIIIth century hence balnea Pauli (Paul's baths), later on corrupted in Magnanapoli; b) the construction of a Byzantine fortified citadel in the VIth century; this was called bannum nea polis (new military town) in a mixture of German and Latin words; bannum nea polis eventually led to Magnanapoli; c) the existence in the
area of towers and other buildings belonging to the Colonna family; they had inscriptions with the words "Mag(nus) Neapol(itani) Regni Connestabilis" because the Colonna were Chief Constables of the Kingdom of Naples
(a Spanish possession in 1503-1707) where they had many fiefdoms. The text of the inscription can be seen in Palazzina di Papa Pio IV. The view is taken from the green dot in the 1748 map below.
In the description below the plate Vasi made reference to: 1) Entrance to Villa Aldobrandini; 2) Street leading to S. Maria Maggiore (via S. Lorenzo in Panisperna);
3) Street leading to Monte Cavallo (Quirinal); 4) SS. Domenico e Sisto; 5) S. Caterina da Siena.
The map shows also 6) Casino Aldobrandini.

Today

The view in July 2009

In 1876 the level of the ground in this part of Monte Magnanapoli was lowered so the former entrance to Villa Aldobrandini is today a window
and a flight of steps is needed to enter S. Caterina da Siena.

The lowering of the ground was required by the opening of Via Nazionale, a new street linking Stazione Termini, the central railway station with Piazza di Venezia. "Omnibus" (for all) a horse-drawn vehicle which was the first public transportation system introduced in Rome required a limited inclination of the street and for this reason the ground was raised or lowered at several points along Via Nazionale (see S. Vitale for an example of raised ground). The street leading to Piazza del Quirinale which already existed at the time of Vasi was lowered and enlarged (now Via XXIV Maggio).

SS. Domenico e Sisto

Fašade and staircase

The construction of the church spanned almost a century from 1569 when Pope Pius V, a Dominican himself, funded the purchase of the land to 1664, when the elegant staircase was completed. The church and the adjoining nunnery were meant to be a new residence for the nuns of S. Sisto Vecchio which was situated in an unhealthy location. Pope Gregory XIII promoted the restoration of the old nunnery, thus slowing the construction of the new one. Work resumed in 1609 and the building was completed by Vincenzo Della Greca and his son Felice.

(left) The staircase leading to the church seen from Villa Aldobrandini; (right) sacred image on the left wall of the church showing the Virgin Mary between St. Dominic
and Pope St. Sixtus II (see a page on the sacred images in the streets of Rome)

The curved design of the flights of steps leading to the church is due to Felice della Greca. It was unusual for a church, but it had already been adopted for suburban villas and in particular at Villa Sacchetti and at Villa Torlonia in Frascati.

(left) Statue of St. Sixtus II who was Pope between 115-125, but was portrayed by Marco Antonio Canini in XVIIth century attire; (centre) detail of the tympanum designed by Vincenzo Della Greca and showing the influence of Francesco Borromini in the use of angels as architectonic elements at S. Ivo alla Sapienza; (right) bell tower (late XVIth century, perhaps designed by Giacomo della Porta)

The Dominicans or Black Friars have a dog with a torch as
a symbol of their order, with reference to Dominicanus = Dominus
Canis (Dog of the Lord); the image used as background for this page is based on a relief in the portal of the church.

Interior: (left) ceiling (1673-675) "Apotheosis of St. Dominic" by Domenico Maria Canuti and Enrico and Antonio Maria Haffner; (right) "Noli me tangere" by Antonio Raggi (1649-652) in the first right chapel

When Domenico Maria Canuti, a painter from Bologna, began working at the ceiling of the church,
Baciccio was already working at that of il Ges¨. Their frescoes show similarities as they both have a light and a dark section. Canuti with the help of the Haffner brothers framed the central scene inside a quadratura, an illusionistic architecture.
This type of ceilings will reach perfection in 1691-694 with The Glory of St. Ignace at S. Ignazio by Andrea Pozzo.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini often masterminded the decoration of chapels, although he was not directly involved in executing them. Antonio Raggi belonged to his inner circle.
The statues show Mary Magdalene recognizing Jesus Christ after his Resurrection and being told not to tread on him.
The painted background depicting a sepulchre was not in the original design of the altar, which, similar to what can be seen at S. Caterina a Magnanapoli, should have been decorated with marbles.

Villa Aldobrandini

The main casino

In 1587 the completion of Acqua Felice, a new aqueduct, with a monumental fountain on the Quirinal,
greatly increased the interest for this hill which was close to Papal Rome. In 1600 Pope Clement VIII
bought a small casino surrounded by a large piece of land in Magnanapoli, which he passed on to his nephew Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini. The main building was redesigned by Carlo Lambardi.

The coat of arms of Pope Clement VIII shown in the plate is lost, but the heraldic symbols (stars and stripes)
of the Aldobrandini are still noticeable in many parts of the gardens and on the many globes of their balustrades.
However the balconies of the main building show
the dove
of the Pamphilj: Donna Olimpia, the last of the Aldobrandini, married
first Paolo Borghese and then Camillo Pamphilj (in the small map the gardens are called Giardino Panfili).

Views of the gardens

Because of the opening of Via Nazionale and in general of the development of the area after 1870, the gardens of Villa Aldobrandini were
reduced to a fraction of their original size. They are now open to the public, but they no longer retain most of the statues and the many fountains which decorated them.

Interior of the church

The church has a very richly decorated interior: in other pages of this web site you can see its cantoria,
a relief by Melchiorre CaffÓ, a funerary monument by Giuliano Finelli and its apse.

Ceiling of the small dome above the main altar (late XVIIth century)

The decoration of the church took more than a century, but overall it is consistent in its richness.
Not all the details can be attributed with certainty to a specific architect or painter.

Ceiling of the nave: Glory of St. Catherine by Luigi Garzi (1700-712)

In the early XVIIIth century artists moved away from what was regarded as being excessively theatrical in the works of Bernini and Baciccio.
Luigi Garzi painted an illusionistic ceiling without an illusionistic effect because the gilded frame around the main fresco separates it from the fake architectures linking the ceiling to the nave walls.